A Christmas Card and some Holiday Pics

 Hello my lovely visitors and welcome to my bloggy space.  Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Before I went away on holidays I mentioned that my mojo had gone AWOL and I was hoping that, when we returned, it would all be ok again.  Unfortunately that didn't happen .. the cobwebs are well and truly still in place.  I had started a couple of bigger projects that I was having problems with and still am not able to concentrate on them to get them right.  So, for a while, I am going to focus on just making cards and tags and maybe get back into some Art Journaling.   Hopefully, mojo will return soon, and then I can finish those pesky projects off .

So, I made this simple Christmas card .. and quite enjoyed it too!

The papers are from Kaisercraft and the top layer was cut using one of the new dies from Tim Holtz. 

Added a small piece of gauze under the cluster.  The baubles were taken from a cheap Christmas decoration and the pine boughs were cut with an Impression Obsession die.  Think I have used these items on every one of my Christmas cards this year.  Just love the look I guess.

I've had these gold stickers in my stash for years and am finally getting around to using them.  Simply stuck them on a small banner .. so easy.

The fabric flowers were hand made with some ribbon.  I followed a tutorial by Pamelia Johnson from
My Little Craft Things.  Mine are not as pretty as hers but I'm still happy with them.  HERE is the link to Pamelia's post which includes the video.

The inside .. with a little pocket at the bottom and plenty of space for a personal message.

Added a few splashes of white paint .. and that was it .. done and dusted!!

I set myself a schedule at the beginning of the year to make at least 2 Christmas cards each month.  Well, I'm way behind .. should have made about 10 by now but this is only No. 5.  Still, that's 5 more cards than I had at this time last year so I'm pretty happy with that.

Now, for those of you who may be interested, here are a few shots from our holidays.
We went on a Cruise to the South Pacific and these were shots taken at our first port of call.  This is the island of Lifou in New Caledonia.  It is part of the Loyalty group of islands.  I believe it is actually the largest one in the group.

This was taken from the ship as we were coming in ..

.. as was this one.

Have no idea what the place is called where we landed.  It was quite small with a few huts and a little market.  This little place did hair braiding .. not a good look for some!!  LOL!!  We had the option of going on different excursions but didn't bother this time.

It was really hot and humid so it was good to get out of the sun.  I bought a fan at that market  .. really needed it!  LOL!!

 

 There was no actual Port here so the ship anchored off shore.  We were taken in on the ship's Tenders.

Some passengers took the opportunity to go swimming.  The water looked amazing .. so clear and clean.

 In line at the jetty waiting to get back on board.  We didn't stay long, only a few hours (because of the heat) but it was really interesting and very enjoyable.

Hope you enjoyed this little look at Lifou.  I will share more photos of our trip in the weeks to come.  Have to say I love Cruising and we will be doing it again.  Probably not back to the South Pacific but we would love to go back to New Zealand and also do a Cruise around Australia.  One day!!

Thank you so much for visiting  and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

Happiness isn't about getting what you want all the time. 
It's about loving what you have and being grateful for it.

What's Happening and some Holiday Pics

Hello my lovely peeps .. welcome to my blog.
Thought I would just post a quick update on what's happening here.  Not much at the moment, obviously LOL!!  

In my last post I explained we were going away on holidays so not much was going to be happening on the blog for a couple of weeks.  Well, since returning from a fabulous Cruise to the South Pacific, I have come down with the mother of all colds.  The bugs were lying in wait for us and attacked as soon as we got home.  Both hubby and I have been feeling miserable and quite sorry for ourselves the last few days.  Thought we were getting through it and feeling a bit better, and then they hit us again. 

Back almost to square one.  Anyways, won't be doing too much here for a few more days but thought, while I was up to it, I would show a couple of pics of Sydney Harbour.
These were taken on our way out. 

 

The ship was docked at Circular Quay and this was the view from our cabin.  We were situated close to the pointy end at the front (the prow .. LOL!!)  and you can just see one of the bridge wings on the right hand side.

 The other side of the Harbour.

Think everyone will know what this is ..

.. and this too!!  We got quite a good view as the ship swung around prior to heading out. 

Luna Park which is just on the other side of the Bridge.

Some people are lucky enough to live right on the water.  

 No idea what suburbs we are seeing here.

Fort Denison which was originally used for convicts but was converted into a Fort in the middle of the 1800's to protect the city from invasion.  Now I think it is mainly used for tourism.

 This is the far side almost at the Heads.

 Passing North Head on our way out to sea.

 As you can see by the photos, it was a beautiful day and a great beginning to our holiday.

Will show more pics as I get them sorted and, hopefully, I will be back with more crafty stuff soon.

Thanks to all who visited while I was away .. hope you'll keep coming back.

Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

On Holidays!!!!

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.

Just a very quick little post today to let you all  know that I will be away for a while.  Hubby and I are off on a Cruise to the South Pacific for two weeks .. it will be so nice to get away for a while.  I'm afraid there won't be any pics while we're away as we don't take the lap-top and we turn off our phones once we're on the ship but I will share some piccies when we get back.

I know it's been a bit quiet on my blog lately but, after this break, I am hoping I will be able to  get back into the swing of things.

Just want to say thank you to everyone who has visited and a special thanks to those of you who have left me some love and sweet comments.  I am really Blessed to have made some wonderful friends through this Blog and my Facebook page and I am so grateful to each and every one of you for supporting and encouraging me along the way.

Hope to see you back here in about two weeks!!

Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

A Card for a Very Special Birthday

Hello everyone and welcome!  I hope you are having a lovely day.

A very special welcome to all my followers, old and new.  Thank you all so much for joining me on my creative journey.  I really hope you will find a little inspiration here.

I'm back to share a very special masculine card with you.  This one was made for my oldest Grandson who turned 21 last weekend.  Have to say, it's a bit of a shock to the system knowing I have a 21 year old grandchild.  Where did all those years go??  I must have been having a lot of fun because they certainly flew past with the speed of light.  LOL!!

Not sure of the name for this style of card but it is my fave for special occassions.  The extra fold adds a bit of interest to the front and it also gives you extra space inside if you wish to add some appropriate quotes, etc.

Found some fabulous metal embellies in my stash  .. The word band is from Tim Holtz and the spark plug is Prima but I'm not sure who makes the clocks.

The papers are from Kaisercraft and the green cardstock was added to the front as  that is my grandies fave colour.  Popped some crackle paste and some script stamping on it to add some texture and interest. 

Lined the inside with more of the KC papers and added a little washi tape and some of those quotes I mentioned earlier.

Placing the quotes on the sides leaves plenty of space in the middle for a personal message.  The '21' are wooden numbers from my stash which have been painted with acrylic paint.

The quotes were found on the net ..

.. some good advice there me thinks.

.. and there you have it.  Another of my 'man' cards done and dusted.  This was the most important one this year though and I am happy to say it was well received.

Thank you so much for dropping by and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care, stay safe and God Bless.

The best things in life are the people we love,
the places we've seen
and the memories we've made along the way.

2016 Christmas Cards #3

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  Hope your day is going well.

At the end of last year I decided I would make at least two Christmas cards each month so that, by the time Christmas came around again, I would be well on the way to having my cards done.  Well, if you have read my previous Christmas card post (HERE), you know that didn't happen.  I have fallen way behind on that schedule but, I am trying to catch up. 
After posting the previous card, I actually surprised myself and got stuck right in and made two more.  Bit of a shock to the system actually but, I survived it .. LOL!!

As you can see, these two cards are very similar.  Similar design and similar elements, just slightly different colouring.  Papers used are from Kaisercraft's Holy Night 12 x 12 Paper Pad. 

Card No. 1.

The baubles and berry sprays are leftover from last years cards (it's great that I'm using these up and don't have to find a place to store them) and the pine boughs were cut with Impression Obsession Die 021-N.

Just to add a little interest, I tucked some gauze in between the circles ..

.. and, of course, I had to add some splooshes and splats of gesso.

The inside has a pocket on the right for a gift card or, I can just tuck a personal message in there.

So, that was card No. 1 ..

.. and this is No. 2.

As I said, they are very similar to each other.  Different colouring of course but this one has an extra paper layer and rounded corners.

The silver baubles were originally red.  I simply painted them with gesso and, while it was still wet, dipped them into some silver glitter.

Added a little gauze underneath the cluster this time and used some different flowers.

As on the first card, the right hand side is a pocket.

I used a different brush for the splatters this time and it went down a bit heavier than I would have liked.  Will have to go back to the old brush I think.

And there you have it, two more Christmas cards done and dusted.  Now that I've started the ball rolling maybe I can keep it going.  Maybe!  LOL!!

Thank you so much for dropping by and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care, stay safe and God Bless.
Live the life you have imagined.